Elixir is a functional, concurrent, general-purpose programming language that runs on the Erlang virtual machine. It was created by José Valim and is influenced by Erlang. Elixir uses immutable data, isolated processes, and message passing for concurrency. It has a syntax similar to Ruby but with features like pattern matching, pipes, and first-class functions. Elixir's lightweight processes and fault-tolerance make it suitable for building distributed, concurrent systems. Its growing ecosystem includes tools like Phoenix for building web applications.