Recently, the first author has extended the definition of the zeta function associated with fractal strings to arbitrary bounded subsets $A$ of the $N$-dimensional Euclidean space ${\mathbb R}^N$, for any integer $N\ge1$. It is defined by $\zeta_A(s)=\int_{A_{\delta}}d(x,A)^{s-N}\,\mathrm{d} x$ for all $s\in\mathbb{C}$ with $\operatorname{Re}\,s$ sufficiently large, and we call it the distance zeta function of $A$. Here, $d(x,A)$ denotes the Euclidean distance from $x$ to $A$ and $A_{\delta}$ is the $\delta$-neighborhood of $A$, where $\delta$ is a fixed positive real number. We prove that the abscissa of absolute convergence of $\zeta_A$ is equal to $\overline\dim_BA$, the upper box (or Minkowski) dimension of $A$. Particular attention is payed to the principal complex dimensions of $A$, defined as the set of poles of $\zeta_A$ located on the critical line $\{\mathop{\mathrm{Re}} s=\overline\dim_BA\}$, provided $\zeta_A$ possesses a meromorphic extension to a neighborhood of the critical line. We also introduce a new, closely related zeta function, $\tilde\zeta_A(s)=\int_0^{\delta} t^{s-N-1}|A_t|\,\mathrm{d} t$, called the tube zeta function of $A$. Assuming that $A$ is Minkowski measurable, we show that, under some mild conditions, the residue of $\tilde\zeta_A$ computed at $D=\dim_BA$ (the box dimension of $A$), is equal to the Minkowski content of $A$. More generally, without assuming that $A$ is Minkowski measurable, we show that the residue is squeezed between the lower and upper Minkowski contents of $A$. We also introduce transcendentally quasiperiodic sets, and construct a class of such sets, using generalized Cantor sets, along with Baker's theorem from the theory of transcendental numbers., Comment: 54 pages, corrected misprints, reduced number of self-citations