Fishing boats with colorful handcrafted sails stop along the banks of Bangladesh's Meghna River.

Water is a way of life throughout Bangladesh, a country that essentially comprises a vast floodplain for some of the world's most powerful rivers.

According to one resident: "To understand Bangladesh, you must understand our rivers."

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Bangladesh: When the Water Comes," June 1993, National Geographic magazine)