Carnot is a city located in the south west of the Central African Republic (CAR), in the prefecture of Mambéré.

The city is situated on the eastern bank of the Mambéré river, and is served by Carnot Airport.

In 1894, François Joseph Clozel founded a French military post near the village of Tendira.

In 1902, the town became home to the 5th company of the 1st RTS (Senegalese Rifle Regiment), a corps of colonial infantry in the French army.

On 4 November 1911, as part of the Franco-German Accord, an agreement that ended the Agadir Crisis, Carnot was ceded to the German Cameroon (Kamerun).

They withdrew from the town on 30 December after looting public buildings and burning voting cards.