Niobium is a soft, ductile, and gray transition metal with a melting point of 2477 degrees Celsius. Like Vanadium, it has oxidation states of +2, +3, +4, and +5.  It was originally called Columbium after the ore it was discovered in, but the name was changed to Niobium in 1950 when an agreement was settled to call Columbium Niobium and Wolfram Tungsten. It was isolated in 1864.

Niobium is used in alloys such as stainless steel in improves alloys designed for low temperatures. It is used in aeronautics and pipelines. It used to be used as filament in incandescent lights until it was replaced by Tungsten.