Wase, town, Plateau state, east-central Nigeria, near the Wase River and at the intersection of roads from Bashar, Langtang, and Shendam. It was founded about 1820 by Hassan, a Fulani official from Bauchi, 85 miles (137 km) north, in an area traditionally inhabited by the Basherawa people and at that time ruled by the Jukun. It became the headquarters of a chiefdom, which was enlarged by the conquest of neighbouring peoples and owed allegiance to the emir of Bauchi. Troops of the Royal Niger Company entered the walled town in 1898; following the British occupation of Bauchi in 1902, Wase was declared independent of Bauchi, and its sarkin (“chief”) was titled emir.
Wase emirate continues to function as a unit, within Plateau state, for some traditional purposes. The majority of its inhabitants are the Yergum (Yergam), Angas, and Basherawa peoples (all predominantly non-Muslim) and the Muslim Fulani. Farming is the chief occupation; the staple crops are sorghum and millet. Mining has long been important around Zurak, 40 miles (64 km) east-northeast of Wase town; the production at Wase and at Zurak of lead and zinc, some of which is exported to Europe, is now controlled by the emir of Wase.
A notable topographic feature, Wase Rock, an 800-foot- (240-metre-) high hill, rises sharply above the savanna. The town has a health office and a dispensary. Pop. (2006) local government area, 161,714.