The Yangkam live in a region west of Bashar town, 25 km north from Jarme on the Amper-Bashar road, Kanam LGA, in Plateau State.
Yangkam is spoken in some four villages, Tukur, Bayar, Pyaksam and Kiram [CAPRO also mentions Gambam and Kwakkwani, but this was not confirmed].
There are many hamlets around Bashar town in Wase local Government whose populations are ethnically Yangkam but who no longer speak the language.
Crozier and Blench (1992) give a figure of 20,000 speakers of the language located in and around Bashar town, some 50 km east of Amper on the Muri road.
The Bashar people seem to have been heavily affected by nineteenth century slave raids, perhaps by the Jukun as well as the Hausa.
There seems to be no likelihood that Yangkam will be maintained as speakers are quite content with the switch to Hausa, while remaining proud of their historical identity.
The Kanuri went to settle at Dikwa, the Bolewa went to Fika, the Bura went to Biu and the Bade to the Gashua area.
When they moved away from the Kaltungo area they went to settle at Kwakwani and later to the foot of Wase rock in Plateau State.
When Tartar made peace, Yakubu Bauchi asked Madaki Hassan to stay in the Wase area with the Yangkam people.
It is said that though the Yangkam gave Madaki Hassan and his people a place to stay, and room to farm, he did not respect them and sold their children as slaves.
A message about his death was sent to Bauchi to inform Emir Yakubu, who sent his condolences to the Yangkam and urged them to appoint the son to succeed the father.
When the Yangkam people were preparing for the installation of the new chief, they agreed among themselves that when they reached Bauchi they should accept Islam as their religion.
But during the reign of Abubakar the people left Ganuwa to settle in Gwaram, south of the present Yangkam town, because of wars (yakin Kalumbu).
When some non-Yangkam residents accepted the gospel, the chief was reluctant to give them land to built a place of worship.