Which HTML element creates an ordered list?

The HTML element that creates an ordered list is <ol>.

An ordered list communicates sequence or ranking, so browsers normally display its items with markers such as 1, 2, and 3. Each individual entry is written with an <li> element nested inside the <ol>, producing a structure such as <ol><li>First</li><li>Second</li></ol>.

The element has been part of HTML since the early standardization era: OL appeared in the HTML Internet Draft 1.2 and was standardized in HTML 2.0. Authors can use the type attribute for traditional marker styles such as letters or Roman numerals, although CSS list-style-type provides more control in modern documents.

The common confusion is between <ol> and <ul>. Use <ol> when order matters, such as instructions or a ranked list; use <ul> when the items are a set without a meaningful sequence. <dl> is for name–value or term–description groups, while <li> represents an item rather than the list container itself.