Which property in an external CSS file specifies the page background color?

The background-color property in an external CSS file is specifically designed to define the background color of an element. When applied to the body tag in a CSS file, for instance, it establishes the color that fills the background behind all other content on the page. This can enhance the visual aesthetics of a web page and ensures that text and other elements stand out against the specified color.

The background-color property accepts various values, including named colors, hexadecimal color codes, RGB, RGBA, and HSL values, providing flexibility in design. It's a fundamental aspect of CSS that enables developers to create visually pleasing layouts by controlling how elements are presented against their backgrounds. Using this property is part of standard CSS practices, making it highly reliable for consistent styling across various web browsers.

Other options do not serve the same purpose. For example, the background-image property is used to set an image as the background, while the color property is utilized to define the text color of an element. The bgcolor attribute, which was used in older HTML versions, is now considered obsolete and should be avoided in favor of CSS for styling purposes.