  A measurement of the cross-section for Z-boson production in the forward
region of pp collisions at 8TeV centre-of-mass energy is presented. The
measurement is based on a sample of $\rm Z\rightarrow e^+e^-$ decays
reconstructed using the LHCb detector, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 2.0fb$^{-1}$. The acceptance is defined by the requirements
$2.0<\eta<4.5$ and $p_{\rm T}>20$GeV for the pseudorapidities and transverse
momenta of the leptons. Their invariant mass is required to lie in the range
60--120GeV. The cross-section is determined to be $$ \sigma({\rm pp\to Z\to
e^+e^-})=93.81\pm0.41({\rm stat})\pm1.48({\rm syst})\pm1.14({\rm lumi})\;{\rm
pb}\,,$$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second reflects all
systematic effects apart from that arising from the luminosity, which is given
as the third uncertainty. Differential cross-sections are presented as
functions of the Z-boson rapidity and of the angular variable $\phi^*$, which
is related to the Z-boson transverse momentum.
