on/in the outskirts

[allthewayanime]

Hello

I sometimes see outskirts with the preposition on and sometimes with in.

I was wondering whether the two prepositions can be used interchangeably. In particular I'm interested to know whether both prepositions can be used in the following sentence.

I live on the outskirts of Dublin.
I live in the outskirts of Dublin.

[bhaisahab]

Hello

I sometimes see outskirts with the preposition on and sometimes with in.

I was wondering whether the two prepositions can be used interchangeably. In particular I'm interested to know whether both prepositions can be used in the following sentence.

I live on the outskirts of Dublin.
I live in the outskirts of Dublin.

Both are possible, "on" is more usual.

[allthewayanime]

So in every context the 'on' would be more common?

[bhaisahab]

So in every context the 'on' would be more common?

Probably.

[BobSmith]

I would have guessed "on" was much more common, but google shows them to be about the same:

"in the outskirts" 151 million results
"on the outskirts" 164 million results

[Bennevis]

It looks like even "at the outskirts" is possible!

In modern times it is responsible for policing and certain security measures at Avonmouth Docks, Royal Portbury Dock and the trading estates owned by the Bristol Port Company that are situated at the outskirts of the port areas.

Type "at the outskirts of" site:uk in your Google search box - you'll get 24 700 000 results.