The current division of twelve parishes Ribadeo was set in the year 1843. The nineteenth century, poo this, mark a turning point between the Ribadeo ancient and modern, a fact which increases with the extinction of the old wall which marked the life of Ribadeo during previous centuries.

Until that time, Ribadeo underwent several territorial divisions, caused mainly by his ownership to the former Galicia province of Mondoñedo, when Galicia had seven provinces in the mid-sixteenth century: A Coruña, Lugo, Santiago, Ourense, Betanzos, Tui and Mondoñedo.

These parishes formed by almost 130 cores give an idea of the population that is dispersed with the exception of urban areas of Ribadeo and Rinlo (single off the center of town). Meanwhile recent years has been to expand the Ribadeo downtown absorbing districts of Ove (Garitos, San Lázaro) and Vilaselán (Os Galos).

In the villages closest to the National Route 634 and the highway, the population density increases. In most rural parishes (Arante, Cedofeita and Vilaosende) density declines except in Cubelas, Couxela and that about 40 km2 of shallow coastal inhabitants.