The `BETWEEN` operator in SQL is a powerful tool for filtering data based on a date range. Instead of using separate comparison operators like `>=` and `<=`, `BETWEEN` concisely specifies the start and end of the desired date range. This makes your queries more readable and maintainable. It's particularly useful when you need to select records that fall within a particular period, such as all orders placed in a specific month or all customer accounts created during a given year. Using `BETWEEN` directly with date columns avoids potential errors that can arise from using multiple comparison operators. This operator is highly efficient for database queries, as the database can optimize the search based on the specified date range. It's a fundamental concept for working with temporal data in SQL.