We studied the relation between the long-term temporal evolution of galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity observed in neutron monitors at Earth-which shows alternating peaks of different shape depending on the polarity of the general solar magnetic field-, and the evolution of the solar coronal holes for the period 1967--1988. This period covers almost one complete solar magnetic (22-yr) cycle. We found that GCR intensity correlates with the evolution of the size of polar coronal holes, which also exhibits alternating time profiles in positive and negative phases of the solar magnetic cycle. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996