It is bordered on the north by the Cantabrian Sea, to the south by the municipality of Ourol, to the east by Viveiro and to the west by Mañón.

The mountain range of Couteiro, which begin in the municipality with Ourol in the civil parish of Cabanas, reaches its highest point on Mount Padro, close to Vivero border.

In the Middle Age the parishes that now compose all the municipality of O Vicedo belonged to different Lords, and were under their jurisdiction (As Negradas, Galdo, Viveiro, etc.).

This division lasted only 5 years and in 1840 the municipality of Riobarba appeared, reflected in the Government report on the Province of Lugo which defined the present parishes.

O Vicedo achieved some national notoriety within Spain during the 1990s when a corruption scandal developed, involving the then mayor Isaac Prado Villapol and other councilors from the Partido Popular (PP).