  We study the Erd\"os/Falconer distance problem in vector spaces over finite
fields. Let ${\Bbb F}_q$ be a finite field with $q$ elements and take $E
\subset {\Bbb F}^d_q$, $d \ge 2$. We develop a Fourier analytic machinery,
analogous to that developed by Mattila in the continuous case, for the study of
distance sets in ${\Bbb F}^d_q$ to provide estimates for minimum cardinality of
the distance set $\Delta(E)$ in terms of the cardinality of $E$. Kloosterman
sums play an important role in the proof.
