What type of relationship allows multiple records from one table to connect with multiple records from another table?

The many-to-many relationship is characterized by the ability for multiple records in one table to be associated with multiple records in another table. This type of relationship is typically implemented using a junction table, which serves as a bridge between the two tables, containing foreign keys that reference the primary keys of both related tables.

For example, consider a scenario involving a 'Students' table and a 'Courses' table. A single student can enroll in multiple courses, and the same course can have multiple students enrolled. Various join operations can be performed on these tables to retrieve the necessary data, highlighting the flexibility and complexity that many-to-many relationships can support.

This relationship is essential in relational databases where such interactions are common, and understanding this concept is fundamental for any database design involving interrelated entities.