In the western part of Southern Europe, which includes Italy to Portugal, the languages are based off of Latin mainly thanks to the Roman Empire centuries ago. Most of what is north of Greece and east of Italy is Slavic. Due to the proximity to eachother and the fact that the people who inhabited that area were originally all the same, the languages are very similar, though the writing used may be different. The Greeks speak their own unique language, and so do the Albanians.