PHPMyAdmin Extension Error

I have MySQL (latest version) and PHP 5 installed on my system.
When I start PHPMyAdmin from my local host I get an error like this :

phpMyAdmin - Error
> Cannot load mysql extension. Please check your PHP configuration. -
> Documentation
>

And, when I click the documentation in the error link above, the newly
opened page says :

 1.20 I receive the error "cannot load MySQL extension, please check PHP
Configuration".

To connect to a MySQL server, PHP needs a set of MySQL functions called
"MySQL extension". This extension may be part of the PHP distribution
(compiled-in), otherwise it needs to be loaded dynamically. Its name is
probably mysql.so or php_mysql.dll. phpMyAdmin tried to load the extension
but failed.
Usually, the problem is solved by installing a software package called
"PHP-MySQL" or something similar.


Now what should I do to get rid of this error?