JPA stands for Java Persistence API, which is a specification that defines how to map Java objects to relational databases and perform operations on them. It is part of the Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) platform and provides a standard way to access data in Java applications. It offers features such as object-relational mapping (ORM), query language (JPQL), caching, inheritance, and more. It supports various implementations, such as Hibernate, EclipseLink, OpenJPA, and more.