A protracted war between the Trịnh lords in the north and the Nguyễn lords in the south ends with the country divided at the Gianh River.
Jan Pieterszoon Coen of the Dutch East India Company seizes Jayakarta and founds Batavia (now Jakarta), the hub of Dutch power in Asia.
Jesuit missionary Alexandre de Rhodes publishes in Rome a Vietnamese–Portuguese–Latin dictionary, a milestone in the development of the Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet.
Lê–Trịnh forces under Trịnh Tùng recapture Thăng Long from the Mạc, who retreat to Cao Bằng.
Miguel López de Legazpi takes Manila and makes it the capital of the Spanish Philippines.
King Bayinnaung of Toungoo Burma captures Ayutthaya, making Siam a vassal within the largest empire in the history of mainland Southeast Asia.
Nguyễn Hoàng becomes governor of Thuận Hóa, laying the foundations of the Nguyễn lords' realm in the south.