The paper analyzes the magnetic field strength B and polarity observed in the distant heliosphere from 1996 to early 2001 and will be discussed in relation to the variation of B from 1978 through 1996. The observations extend the results of Burlaga et al. [1]. The polarity of the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) from 1997 to early 2001 is studied in relation to the extrapolated position of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS). These observations of polarity extend the earlier results of Burlaga et al. [2] and Burlaga and Ness [3]. The V1 observations of the heliospheric magnetic field strength B agree with Parker’s model of the global heliospheric magnetic field from 1 to 81 AU and from 1978 to 2001, when one considers the solar cycle variations in the source magnetic field strength and the latitude/time variation in the solar wind speed. Parker’s model, without adjustable parameters, describe the general tendency for B to decrease with increasing distance R from the Sun, and the solar cycle time variations causing the three broad increases of B around 1980, 1990, and 2000, and the minima of B in 1987 and 1997. The variation of magnetic polarity observed by V1 and V2 was caused by the increasing latitudinal width of the sector zone with increasing solar activity, which in turn was related to the increasing maximum latitudinal extent and the decreasing minimum latitudinal extent of the footpoints of the HCS. © 2003 American Institute of Physics