3GP is a multimedia container format defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for 3G UMTS multimedia services. It was commonly used for recording and playing video and audio on mobile phones, offering efficient compression to suit limited bandwidth and storage.

The 3GP format was introduced in 1998 to enhance the capabilities of 3G mobile networks. Designed as a multimedia container, 3GP aimed to facilitate efficient video and audio streaming on mobile devices by using high compression. It encapsulates video streams as MPEG-4 Part 2, H.263, or MPEG-4 Part 10 (AVC/H.264), and audio streams as AMR-NB, AMR-WB, or AAC. The 3GP format quickly became the standard for mobile video, allowing users to capture, transfer, and view media on their phones.