An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numeric label assigned to every device connected to a network that uses the Internet Protocol. It serves two purposes: identifying the host (your device) and providing its location on the network.
IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers written as four octets, for example 192.168.1.1. Because there are only about 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses, the world is gradually moving to IPv6, which uses 128-bit addresses and can assign a practically unlimited number of devices.
Your public IP address is assigned by your Internet service provider (ISP) and identifies your connection to the whole internet. Private addresses like 10.x, 172.16–31.x and 192.168.x are used inside your home network and are never routed over the public internet.