Summary
The HTML Root Element (<html>
) represents the root of an HTML document. All other elements must be descendants of this element.
Content categories | None. |
Permitted content | One {{HTMLElement("head")}} element, followed by one {{HTMLElement("body")}} element. |
Tag omission | The start tag may be omitted if the first thing inside the <html> element is not a comment.The end tag may be omitted if the <html> element is not immediately followed by a comment, and it contains a {{HTMLElement("body")}} element either that is not empty, or whose start tag is present. |
Permitted parent elements | As the root element of a document, or wherever a subdocument fragment is allowed in a compound document. |
DOM interface | {{domxref("HTMLHtmlElement")}} |
Attributes
This element includes the global attributes.
- {{htmlattrdef("manifest")}} HTML5 but now deprecated {{Gecko_minversion_inline(1.9)}}
- Specifies the URI of a resource manifest indicating resources that should be cached locally. See Using the application cache for details.
- {{htmlattrdef("version")}} {{deprecatedGeneric('inline','HTML4.01')}} {{obsoleteGeneric('inline','HTML5')}}
- Specifies the version of the HTML Document Type Definition that governs the current document. This attribute is not needed, because it is redundant with the version information in the document type declaration.
- {{htmlattrdef("xmlns")}}
- Specifies the XML Namespace of the document. Default value is "https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml". This is required in XHTML, and optional in HTML5.
Example
The DOCTYPE used in the following example indicates HTML5.
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head>...</head> <body>...</body> </html>
Notes
Since the <html>
element is the first in a document other than comments, it is called the root element. Although this tag can be implied, or not required, with HTML, it is required to be opened and closed in XHTML.
Specifications
Specification | Status | Comment |
---|---|---|
{{SpecName('HTML WHATWG', 'semantics.html#the-html-element', '<html>')}} | {{Spec2('HTML WHATWG')}} | |
{{SpecName('HTML5 W3C', 'semantics.html#the-html-element', '<html>')}} | {{Spec2('HTML5 W3C')}} | |
{{SpecName('HTML4.01', 'struct/global.html#h-7.3', '<html>')}} | {{Spec2('HTML4.01')}} |
Browser compatibility
{{CompatibilityTable}}
Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari (WebKit) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | 1.0 | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} |
Feature | Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Phone | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic support | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} | {{CompatVersionUnknown}} |
See also
- MathML top-level element: {{MathMLElement("math")}}
- SVG top-level element: {{SVGElement("svg")}}
{{HTMLRef}}