Inheritance in C++ is a mechanism where new classes, known as derived classes, are formed from existing classes, termed base classes, allowing the derived classes to inherit features from the base class. It facilitates code reusability, faster development, and maintenance, and can be classified into various types such as single, multiple, multilevel, hierarchical, and hybrid inheritance. Access control is also emphasized, showing how different members (public, protected, private) are inherited in derived classes.