apt-get now supports a 'mirror' method that will automatically select a good mirror based on your location. Putting:
deb mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt precise main restricted universe multiverse
deb mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb mirror://mirrors.ubuntu.com/mirrors.txt precise-security main restricted universe multiverse
on the top in your /etc/apt/sources.list
file should be all that is needed to make it automatically pick a mirror for you based on your geographical location.
Just note that after making the change you need to run sudo apt-get update
before doing anyapt-get install
for it to use your closest mirror.