What does the 'position' property in CSS control?

The 'position' property in CSS primarily controls how an element is positioned in relation to its normal flow within the document. It determines whether an element is static, relative, absolute, fixed, or sticky, which affects its placement on the page and how other elements interact with it.

When an element's position is set to relative, it is positioned relative to its original location in the document flow. If set to absolute, the element is removed from the document flow and positioned relative to its nearest positioned ancestor. A fixed position keeps the element in the same place even when scrolling, and a sticky position toggles between relative and fixed based on the scroll position. These positioning methods allow for flexible layouts and precise control over element placement, impacting the overall flow of elements as they relate to one another on the page.